The Circle
by Jared
Summary: Sakura and Syaoran are pursued by Tereka for their powers. Who are the mysterious 2 who lend a hand?


The circle  
  
Jared  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------Disclaimer: The characters below (Nokoru, Li Syaoran, Sakura) belong to CLAMP and are only on loan for this fanfic. Philip is my own creation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
"Sakura, watch out!" Syaoran dove at Sakura, shoving her out of the path of danger. "Are you ok?"  
  
"Yes. Thank you Shaoran." Sakura blushed.  
  
Syaoran blushed himself. "Hey kid, the danger isn't over yet." A voice boomed in his ear. "And Sakura's safe enough for now. So GET OFF ALREADY!"  
  
"Kero-chan!" Sakura chided. However, Syaoran moved away, still blushing deeply. Suddenly, he was distracted by a jet of water coming directly at him. He leapt out of the way deftly, only to find the water some distance behind. Dodging and leaping, Syaoran tried to outmanoeuvre the water, but it was too fast, and try as he might, he was unable to lose it. Once more he landed, and prepared to leap once again, when suddenly a black ribbon- like force held him in a vice-like grip.  
  
"Syaoran!" Sakura shouted. She reached into her pocket for the Sakura cards. "Windy!" she cried, touching the card with her staff. Instantly, the graceful windy raced towards Syaoran, trying her best to tug him out of the tight grip, but was unable to do so. Syaoran tried to reach into his own robe, but with his hands forced to his sides, he was pretty much helpless.  
  
The dark ribbons continued twining themselves around Syaoran, slowly tightening like a snake coiling around its victim. The same was happening to Sakura. "At last! I will possess the power of the cards!" Chuckling evilly, a man stepped out of the darkness.  
  
"Who are you?" Sakura asked, frantically trying to break free from the dark strands twisted around her. A dark thread was twisting around the vulnerable throat, squeezing what little air she had out of her. Sakura gasped painfully. No. I can't lose.It'll be all right.It'll be all right.It'll.be.al.ll.r.r.  
  
"Sakura!" she heard Syaoran yell. "NO!" Suddenly, she was aware of the dark forces loosening its grip on her. She flickered her eyelids open weakly. Syaoran was surrounded by a green aura, bright in the darkness surrounding him. He raised his hand, and for a mere instant, the forces seemed to pause.  
  
Syaoran raced to Sakura's side. "Sakura, are you all right?" he asked anxiously.  
  
"Syaoran." Sakura muttered.  
  
"Li-kun!" Syaoran turned around and saw the two boys. "I'm sorry we took so long. We were held up."  
  
Syaoran nodded a greeting. "Philip, can you heal Sakura? I'm not too sure what he did to her. She's.not doing so well."  
  
Sakura saw a boy step forward. He had brilliant green eyes, and sandy brown hair, much lighter than Syaoran's. He took her hands gently in his own. "Don't move now." he told her. "Just lie still and let me do the rest." Instantly, Sakura felt a strange soothing power race through her body, soothing the terrible pain inflicted by the forces of darkness.  
  
Meanwhile, unnoticed by the boys, the dark forces began snaking once more towards them and Sakura. It moved swiftly over to Philip, and was just about to wrap itself around the boy when a brilliant dome-shamed shield surrounded the boy, protecting him from harm.  
  
Philip half-turned. "Thank you Nokoru."  
  
The third boy tilted his head. "It was a pleasure Philip." He smiled. "Just heal the girl. I'll protect you and help Li-kun."  
  
Philip nodded. He pressed his hands tightly over Sakura's. Please, hurry. he pleaded. I need to help Li-kun and Nokoru.  
  
Suddenly, he moved away. He knew that she would be just fine. Sakura sat up and saw Syaoran and Nokoru battling the man who controlled the dark forces before. "Tereka?!" Nokoru gasped.  
  
"You know this guy?" Syaoran asked in amazement.  
  
"Sure do. He tried to absorb my powers once. But.I thought he was dead."  
  
"And I would have been had not the powers of darkness saved me. But now, instead of one, I have three! Oops, my mistake. Four."  
  
"You stay away from her!" Syaoran said, moving closer to Sakura.  
  
Tereka laughed evilly. "The powers of darkness are mine to command. And there's nothing you can do to stop me!" He put out his hand, sending the dark spires towards them once more.  
  
"I.can't.hold him off much longer." Nokoru gasped painfully. The shield surrounding them began to show cracks.  
  
"Shield!" Sakura shouted, and a second shield emerged, protecting them while strengthening the weakening shield. "Ok, positions everyone. Ready? GO!"  
  
With that, all three launched their attacks on Tereka. Sakura stared in amazement. Nokoru had transformed into the golden phoenix, Philip was the silver falcon, and.Syaoran was the green wolf!  
  
Tereka was being held down by the bonds created from the field around Philip and Nokoru, whilst Syaoran was slowing down his attack by freezing his movements every so often, matching Tereka's powerful attacks with his own flashing swipes. Suddenly, one of Tereka's attacks hit home. Syaoran clenched his teeth, his pain evident. However, Philip swiftly turned around, and folding his wings protectively around Syaoran inside the shield that Nokoru created for protection, began to heal his wounds.  
  
Suddenly, Sakura understood. The trio were a perfect team. Whilst Nokoru created the bulk of the shields for protection, Philip was the one who healed their wounds when the others were injured. And Syaoran.Syaoran was the main attacking force behind the three. Evidently, each had their own special abilities. Sakura shook her head impatiently. What am I doing?! They need my help and here I am daydreaming?!  
  
Pulling a card from her pocket, she called upon Firey, Windy, Wood, Watery, and Thunder. Following her orders, they joined in the attack. However, despite all they did, it was clear that Tereka had the upper hand.  
  
Why can't we defeat him? Nokoru thought in frustration. There has to be a way to destroy him once and for all! He closed his eyes and sent his mind deep into that of Tereka's. I have to find his weakness before the others are totally exhausted.  
  
Suddenly, he found the source. That's it! Quickly, he withdrew from Tereka's mind and shouted. "Focus on his ring, on his left hand! That's the source of his power, and without it, Tereka will be no more!"  
  
Tereka turned angrily on him. "You meddling fool! I'll teach you." He looked up and saw the various attacks launched on him.on his ring. Swiftly, he retracted his powers to try to protect the source of his powers. "I'll destroy you later!" he snarled.  
  
Nokoru shut his eyes. There's one more chance.If I divert all my powers to Li-kun, he can easily break the shield around Tereka and destroy the ring. But that would leave Li-kun and the rest totally defenceless. Unless.Sakura- chan, use the shield card, now.  
  
Sakura blinked in surprise. Did Nokoru just talk to her? In her mind? I'm not sure, but I guess there's no harm in using the shield again. She pulled the shield card out and once more the shield took form, protecting them. Instantly, she felt the strength of Tereka's wrath, stronger than before. Why is the attack stronger? Unless.Unless. Unless Nokoru-san is not helping to maintain the shield! But why would he do that?  
  
Sakura was baffled. That is, she was baffled until she saw Syaoran's aura change from its usual green to a lighter shade of green. Nokoru-san is combining his powers with Shaoran's! she realised. So that's why!  
  
Tereka's eyes widened when he saw Syaoran's power intensify. No, that can only mean. his thoughts were disrupted by the sound of his crystal ring being shattered. Instantly, he felt his powers drain from him, along with his life force. He opened his mouth to yell, but found that he had lost his voice. Slowly, Tereka was caught up in an encircling dark cloud that slowly sucked him inside. The cloud twisted round and round like a tornado, and finally vanished from sight.  
  
"Do you think that's the end of him?" Nokoru asked.  
  
"Who knows? Knowing Tereka, he'll find a way to make a comeback. But I guess we'll deal with that another time." Philip shrugged.  
  
"Well, we'd better get going now. We'll see you another time." Nokoru bowed at Sakura and turning around, he and Philip walked through a portal that opened up before them.  
  
"Sakura.Sakura.are you all right?" Syaoran asked, concerned.  
  
Sakura blushed. "Don't worry, Shaoran. I'm fine. But who were they? And how did they do what they did? They didn't have Clow cards or anything."  
  
Syaoran smiled. "The blond that you saw is Imonoyama Nokoru. He's the youngest son of the Imonoyama Foundation, and has telepathic and empathetic abilities. He also possesses the ability to create immensely strong force fields for protection. You saw it just now. The other one is Philip Lynton. He has the power to heal any wound, and can even bring people back from the dead. His powers are mainly passive. The three of us belong to the Circle. It's basically a group whereby we're grouped according to our abilities by the council and have to work together as a team. Kind of like you and me."  
  
Sakura nodded in understanding. "Shaoran.what about you? What is your power then? How come you couldn't use those powers against Yue in the Final judgement?"  
  
Syaoran smiled. "Sakura, I can't use my powers against Yue since Yue can only judge me based on the power of the Clow Cards that I have collected. That's why I couldn't use my powers then. And to answer your question, my powers come from the elements. I can control time. And use the powers of the elements in battle."  
  
"Shaoran, so.will you.stop helping me? I mean, now that you've got your friends who are more powerful than I am."  
  
"Sakura.I'll never leave. You and I will always be together." He hugged her close.  
  
Sakura smiled and returned the embrace. They stood there, locked in each other's embrace.  
  
"Hey brat! Enough already! Hey, you hear me? HEY!" 


End file.
